1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a portable apparatus such as a book-type portable computer, and more particularly to a structure having a housing containing a functional component such as a speaker.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the field of conventional portable computers dealing mainly with character information and graphic information, there is a tendency that such portable computers should be applied to multimedia wherein moving pictures, sounds, etc. are integrated. The amount of data processed in multimedia is much greater than that of data processed when character information alone is used. It is thus necessary to record data by using a large-capacity optical disk. To meet the demand, portable computers have been marketed, which comprise CD-ROM drives for reading out data from optical disks.
This type of portable computer includes a box-shaped housing body and a display unit supported by the housing body. The CD-ROM driver is contained within the housing body. The portable computer including the CD-ROM drive is provided with various functional parts, e.g. a loudspeaker outputting a sound and a volume switch for controlling the volume of sound. These functional parts are contained within the housing body.
In the conventional portable computer, the housing body comprises a lower housing and an upper housing coupled to the lower housing. The lower housing supports the CD-ROM drive and functional parts. Thus, after the CD-ROM drive and functional parts are built in the lower housing, the upper housing is removably coupled to the lower housing. The CD-ROM drive and functional parts are covered by the upper housing.
In the field of computers having CD-ROM drives, there is a demand that the built-in loudspeaker be replaced with one having higher quality. Besides, the contact of the volume switch for controlling the sound volume may be deteriorated with the passing of use time of the computer. Thus, the frequency of replacement of functional parts such as the loudspeaker and volume switch is relatively higher than that of the CD-ROM drive or other circuit elements contained within the housing body.
In the conventional computer, however, the functional parts such as a loudspeaker and a volume switch are contained within the housing body along with the CD-ROM drive and other circuit elements. When such functional parts need to be replaced or maintained, it is necessary to disassembling the entire housing body by removing the upper housing from the lower housing. Consequently, a great deal of time and labor is needed for replacement and maintenance of the functional parts.
An object of the present invention is to provide a portable apparatus with high workability capable of easily replacing or maintaining a functional component, without disassembling a housing body.
Another object of the invention is to provide a portable apparatus capable of having such an external appearance that first and second speakers are arranged symmetrically with respect to a center line of a housing body.
In order to achieve the above objects, there is provided a portable apparatus comprising:
a box-shaped housing body including a lower housing and an upper housing coupled to said lower housing, said upper housing including a component attachment portion opened upward;
a functional component removably supported on said component attachment portion of said upper housing; and
a top cover removably supported on said housing body, said top cover covering the component attachment portion and the functional component supported on said component attachment portion.
According to this structure, the functional component is supported on the component attachment portion of the upper housing. The functional component is situated on an upper part of the housing body and not in a deep region of the housing body. Since the functional component supported on the component attachment portion is covered by the removable top cover, the top cover is removed from the housing body and the functional component is exposed to the upper part of the housing body when the functional component is replaced or maintained. Thereby, there is no need to perform time-consuming works such as disassembling the housing body at each time of replacing or maintaining the functional component.
According to this invention, there is also provided a portable apparatus comprising:
a box-shaped housing body including a lower housing having a bottom wall and a rear wall continuous with the bottom wall, and an upper housing coupled to the lower housing, said upper housing including a component attachment portion opened upward;
a functional component removably supported on said component attachment portion of said housing body;
a display unit having a support portion extending toward the component attachment portion of said housing body;
hinge means for rotatably supporting the display unit on said housing body, said hinge means being situated adjacent to said component attachment portion; and
a top cover removably attached to said housing body, said top cover covering the component attachment portion and the functional component supported on said component attachment portion,
wherein said component attachment portion of the housing body includes a cover portion covering the support portion of the display unit from below, and being continuous with the rear wall of the lower housing, and
said top cover includes a hinge cover portion covering the hinge means, said hinge cover portion being continuous with said cover portion when said top cover is attached to said housing body.
According to this structure, the functional component is supported on the component attachment portion of the upper housing. The functional component is situated on an upper part of the housing body and not in a deep region of the housing body. Since the functional component supported on the component attachment portion is covered by the removable top cover, the top cover is removed from the housing body and the functional component is exposed to the upper part of the housing body when the functional component is replaced or maintained. Thereby, there is no need to perform time-consuming works such as disassembling the housing body at each time of replacing or maintaining the functional component.
In addition, the cover portion of the component attachment portion extends below the leg portion of the display unit and is continuous with the rear wall of the lower housing. In the state in which the component attachment portion is covered by the top cover, the hinge means can be covered by the hinge cover portion of the top cover and the cover portion. Thus, there is no need to provide an exclusive-use cover for covering the hinge means, and the number of structural parts can be reduced. In addition, since the cover portion is integrated with the component attachment portion, the cover portion can be exactly positioned in relation to the support portion and top cover.
According to this invention, there is also provided a portable apparatus comprising:
a box-shaped housing body having an upper wall, said upper wall of the housing body having a component attachment portion opened upward;
first and second speakers removably supported on said component attachment portion of the housing body, said speakers being arranged on both sides of a center line extending in the depth direction of the housing body through the center of the housing body in the width direction, and a distance between said first speaker and said center line being different from a distance between said second speaker and said center line; and
a top cover removably supported on said housing body, said top cover covering the component attachment portion and the first and second speakers;
wherein said top cover includes a panel having a pair of holes facing said first and second speakers, and first and second speaker covers attached to the panel and covering said holes, each of said first and second speaker covers having a shape greater than an opening shape of each of said holes and extending in the width direction of said housing body, and a distance between said first speaker cover and said center line being equal to a distance between said second speaker cover and said center line.
According to this structure, if the top cover is removed from the housing body, the first and second speakers are exposed to the upper side of the housing body. Thus, there is no need to disassemble the entire housing at each time of replacing or maintaining the speakers, and the workability is enhanced.
In addition, since the speaker covers covering the first and second speakers are arranged symmetrical with respect to the center line of the housing body, the speakers may be apparently viewed to be arranged symmetrical with respect to the center line although the speakers are actually arranged asymmetrical.
According to this invention, there is also provided a portable apparatus comprising:
a box-shaped housing body including a lower housing and an upper housing coupled to said lower housing, said upper housing including a component attachment portion opened upward and a keyboard attachment portion;
a keyboard mounted on said keyboard attachment portion;
a functional component removably supported on said component attachment portion; and
a top cover removably supported on said housing body, said top cover covering the component attachment portion and the functional component supported on said component attachment portion.
According to this structure, the functional component is situated on the upper part of the housing body, and not in a deep region of the housing body. The top cover is removed and the functional component is exposed to the upper side of the housing body when the functional component is replaced or maintained. Thereby, there is no need to disassemble the housing body at each time of replacing or maintaining the functional component, and the workability is enhanced.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.